The End Times Focus on Israel: The Palestinians in Prophecy

The Birth Pains

Incidentally, the attack waged by the Arab Nations the next morning after Israel’s Declaration of Independence was signed became the fulfillment of a fascinating prophecy. There are many prophecies about the re-establishment of Israel in the end times, but my favorite is a symbolic prophecy. Look at Isaiah 66:7-8, “Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she gave birth to a boy.” How many of you women have ever given birth before the birth pains? They come before the birth, not after. This prophecy says, “No! The labor pains will come after the birth.”

“Who has heard of such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth all at once?” And then the birth pains came. What exactly happened was that on May 14, 1948, the nation of Israel was declared, and on the very next morning five Arab nations attacked Israel. Since the time Israel was re-established there have been constant birth pains through constant wars.

Israel experienced the birth pains during the war of 1948-49, known as the War of Independence. There was the Suez War waged in 1956. There was the Six Day War waged in 1967. There was the Yom Kippur War waged in 1963. The Lebanese War was waged in 1982. The First Intifada, which is the first Arab uprising in Israel occurred from 1987-93. The First Gulf War was fought from 1990-91. Then there was the second Arab uprising from 2000-2005. The Hezbollah War was fought in 2006. The Gaza War was waged in 2009. The Second Gaza War exploded in 2014.

The Israelis, from the moment their nation was rebirthed, have lived in a constant state of war. Israel has had to defend itself over one war after another after another. The birth pains have continued to this day.

A whopping 350 million Arabs surround little Israel today, but this tiny nation has defied all odds by continuing to exist. Israel is a miracle of God! And let me tell you something, Israel will continue to exist. The end time prophecies make that very clear.

Look at Zechariah 12:6. “In that day…” (Zechariah when he uses that term is talking about the end times) “…I will make the plans of Judah like a firepot among pieces of wood, and a flaming torch among sheaves so that they will consume on the right hand, on the left all the surrounding peoples.” A miraculous revival of Israel’s military power in the end times is what this prophecy is talking about, and that is exactly what has happened.

The Palestinians in Prophecy

Where do the Arabs fit into end time Bible prophecy?

Just as God made a covenant with the Jews through Abraham’s son Isaac and his son Jacob, God also made a promise to the Arab people. Most people are not aware of this. God made a covenant with Abraham’s other son, Ishmael, known today as the Arab peoples, and you can find that covenant in Genesis 16 and 17.

What were the promises God made to the descendants of Ishmael?

Firstly, God promised Abraham, “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly.” Today there are 350 million Arabs living in the Middle East.

Secondly, God said He would make Ishmael’s descendants into a great nation.” And, they are!

Thirdly, God gave the Ishmaelites all the land east of Canaan. And, He has!

Fourthly, God would give the Arabs a personality like a wild donkey. Very interesting comparison!

Fifthly, Ishmael’s descendants would have a warlike spirit. Their hands will be against everyone.

So, those are the promises God made about the descendants of Ishmael.

Let’s looks at thee fulfillment of God’s promises to Ishmael. Today, the Arab world spans the Middle East and North Africa. God said He was going to provide them with a lot of land, and He certainly did give them a whole lot of land. Today there are more than 350 million Arabs inhabiting 22 Arab nations. The Arab’s control 5.3 million square miles of oil rich land.

The Arabs are indeed characterized by an inability to get along with anyone, even including themselves. If Israel were to disappear tomorrow, there would still be wars in the Middle East. In one war between Iran and Iraq over one million people were killed. Then Iraq invaded Kuwait and wanted to take over all the Middle East. The Arabs cannot even get along with each other, much less the rest of the world.

By comparison, there is only one Jewish state with a population of 6 million Jews who are squeezed into a living area of only 8,000 square miles. You would think with those such overwhelming numbers the Arabs would be satisfied with the land they have, but no, they want all of Israel’s territory as well. In truth, they yearn to destroy their half-brother Israel. That is a population ratio of 60 to 1, and a land ratio of 662 to 1!

Regarding the so-called Palestinians, it is very interesting that from 70 AD until 1948 AD, the year when Israel was re-established, Jerusalem had never been the capital of any Arab state. Jerusalem has never been the capital of any Arab state, only of the Jewish state.

Also, there has never been a Palestinian state. Antisemetics will tell people that all the problems in the Middle East are tied to the day that the Jews returned and “ran all the Palestinians out and took over their homes.” What a lie! There has never been a Palestinian state. The Arabs who lived in the Levant considered themselves to be Syrians.

Historically proven, there never has been any Palestinian identity. There has never been a Palestinian culture. There was never any Palestinian language. It just simply doesn’t exist! The idea of a Palestinian state, a people who were illegally displaced by the Jews, is pure propaganda developed by the Arabs after the Six Day War in 1967.

It is very important to keep in mind that the Palestinians already have a state. They already have a state and it is called Jordan. Some 75% of all the people who live in Jordan consider themselves Palestinians. So, when the Palestinians cry out to the world that they need a state, the truth is, they already legally have a state, and it’s called Jordan.

The Land Restored

Let me tell you, very few Syrians lived in the Holy Land. Most of the people were absentee landlords because the area was a wasteland. When the Jews were forced by the Romans to leave the area, Israel became a wasteland. By the 20th Century, there were only 17,000 trees left in all of Israel. Only 17,000! There was not a single tree south of the Sea of Galilee. How do we know that? The Turks taxed trees and so kept records. What did these poor people living in this miserable land do? They cut down their trees so they wouldn’t have to pay taxes. That’s how we know there were only 17,000 trees left in the land.

Do you know what a treeless land becomes? Erosion takes its toll and the water becomes malaria-infested swamplands. For the last 1,900 years, Israel was an absolute wasteland.

Why? God had that happen on purpose because He didn’t want anybody moving into the Promised Land. He wanted to reserve it for the Jewish people.

Check out the first book that Mark Twain ever wrote titled, Innocence Abroad. It records Twain’s trip to the Holy Land in 1866. He marveled over just how barren the land was. He reported that he rode a horse for three to almost four days from the Sea of Galilee to Jerusalem, and he never saw one human being the entire time. He never saw a tree. He never saw an animal. He reported that all he saw was rock after rock after rock.

It’s historically proven that there were hardly any people living in the land of Israel when the Jews began to come back. And, once they finally got there, what did the Jews do? They bought the land that God had already given them. They paid exorbitant prices to the Arabs who laughed all the way to the bank over these stupid Jews who were buying this worthless land.

What the Arabs didn’t realize was that God had prophesied that when the Jews came back, the land would become like the land of the Garden of Eden. Today you can go to Israel, and indeed, it looks just like the Garden of Eden must have. Drive down the Valley of Sharon and look out the bus. On one side there are strawberry fields, and there’s a cotton field, there’s a banana plantation. Just about everything you can imagine is growing, because God has made Israel once again like the Garden of Eden.

My hope is that this information will help the reader better understand that the return of the Jewish people to their homeland and the reestablishment of their state is firstly all in accordance with God’s will, and secondly, is a sure sign that we are living in the season of the Lord’s return.

Dr. David Reagan

Dr. David Reagan serves as the Founder and Director of Lamb & Lion Ministries. He is a life-long Bible student, teacher, and preacher whose sermons have been distributed worldwide and has led 45 pilgrimages to Israel. Dr. Reagan is the host of the television program Christ in Prophecy.

The reference to “Synagogue of Satan” to the churches of Smyrna and Philadelphia traditionally has been interpreted as hostility from the town’s actual synagogue. The Jewish people in the First Century were openly hostile to the new churches in all the town the Gospel spread, for they believed Christianity to be a Nazarene cult. The Apostle Paul describes many encounters with the Jewish people who became hostile to his message once he preached it first to them. This biblical reference has no bearing on the Jews living in modern day Israel, proven as Jews through bloodline and genetic testing.

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Lamb & Lion Ministries was established for the purpose of proclaiming the soon return of Jesus. We do not believe it is possible to know the date when Jesus will return. But we do believe it is possible to know the season of the Lord's return, and it is our conviction that we are living in that season...